183 Acres Near Bake Oven Knob Acquired By State

April 05, 1984|The Morning Call

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is acquiring 183 acres in Carbon County bordering the Appalachian trail and Bake Oven Knob.

The land, which the commission had been after for years, was acquired in a "friendly" condemnation last month. Actual possession will occur when the declaration of taking is filed soon in Carbon County Court, according to Atty. Stewart Blywas, commission counsel.

The land will be added to the state game lands, which are open to the public for hunting and hiking.

With the acquisition, the popular Bake Oven Knob, an outcrop of rocks on top of Blue Mountain, will be completely surrounded by game lands. The condemnation also secures the northern side of the Appalachian trail that runs along the property.

Acquiring private land along the Appalachian trail has been an ongoing goal of the Game Commission and other groups interested in protecting the famous footpath that stretches from Maine to Georgia.

George Thomas, supervisor of real estate with the Game Commission in Harrisburg, said the land comes from the Kemmerer estate, which had been trying to sell the land to the commission for years.

The commission did not want to buy the land because it felt the Kemmerer estate did not have a clear title to it. By condemning the land, the title is cleared, Thomas explained.

Because the Kemmerer estate wanted the Game Commission to have the land one way or the other, it is a friendly condemnation, not a hostile condemnation, Thomas said.

Carbon County Court will have the land appraised, and the Commission will give the money to the court to hold for up to five years. Within that time, the court will give the money to whoever can show a valid prior interest in the land. Thomas expects the Kemmerer estate will be able to show that valid interest and will get the money.

But if no legitimate interest in the land is demonstrated in five years, the money will be given back to the commission, Thomas said.

The Game Commission, the Lehigh Valley Conservancy and local sportsmen's clubs are also in the process of buying 712 acres of the Kemmerer estate on the northern side of the Appalachian trail in Carbon County. That, too, would be added to the state game lands and would protect the trail.